{"id":1453,"date":"2022-12-22T05:33:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T05:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/22\/america-is-divided-by-home-prices-heres-where-the-affordable-homes-are-hiding\/"},"modified":"2022-12-22T05:33:21","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T05:33:21","slug":"america-is-divided-by-home-prices-heres-where-the-affordable-homes-are-hiding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/22\/america-is-divided-by-home-prices-heres-where-the-affordable-homes-are-hiding\/","title":{"rendered":"America Is Divided\u2014by Home Prices: Here\u2019s Where the Affordable Homes Are Hiding"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (2)<\/p>\n

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When it comes to demand for real estate, certain areas of the U.S. are hot\u2014and others definitely are not. And the most in-demand spots right now aren\u2019t those balmy climates you might presume people pine for this time of year.<\/p>\n

For the sixth month in a row, warm, sunny, formerly desirable Western markets are nowhere to be found in the Realtor.com\u00ae 20 Hottest Markets<\/a> rankings.\u00a0The Southern markets haven\u2019t charted on this list for two months. Instead, the hottest markets of November are clustered in the snowy Midwest and Northeast, spread out across 11 states.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the possibility of building snowmen or carving ski runs that\u2019s drawing homebuyers to these regions; it\u2019s the relatively low home prices.<\/p>\n

(The hottest markets report factors in a combination of demand measured by the number of unique views per listing and how quickly properties sell measured by the number of days on the market.)<\/p>\n

\u201cA notable number of metros in the Western and Southern states have seen affordability decline this year,\u201d says\u00a0George Ratiu<\/strong>, manager of economic research for\u00a0Realtor.com<\/a>. \u201cIn contrast, markets in the Northeast and Midwest have seen a more moderate price trajectory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the average listing price for the 20 hottest metros in November was $324,000, about 22.2% lower than November\u2019s national median<\/a> of $415,750. (Metros include the central city and the surrounding suburbs, towns, and smaller urban areas.)<\/p>\n

With those savings, it\u2019s little wonder that homes in these markets received 1.8 times as many page views on Realtor.com compared with the typical real estate listing on the site.<\/p>\n\n

The Northeast\u2019s remarkable hot streak<\/h2>\n

The most sought-after town for home shoppers in November\u2014for a whopping 11th time in the past 12 months\u2014was Manchester, NH<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Manchester\u2019s home prices are a bit on the pricier side at $487,000, the metro is still a relative bargain compared with the nearby hub of Boston<\/a>. (Home prices in Beantown tipped the scales at $740,000 in November.)<\/p>\n

And Manchester offers other bottom-line bonuses\u2014namely, New Hampshire residents don\u2019t have to pay any state sales or income tax.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the Live Free or Die state drawing home shoppers. The Northeast nabbed a total of nine spots on November\u2019s Hottest Markets list, with Massachusetts<\/a>, New York<\/a>, and Connecticut<\/a> joining New Hampshire.<\/p>\n

Rochester, NY<\/a>, the second-hottest market on the list, had a median home price of just $226,000 in November.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany buyers, and especially first-timers, found they hit a financial ceiling on their journey toward homeownership,\u201d says Ratiu. \u201cMidsize and smaller metro areas located near large employment centers, which offer good quality of life, desirable amenities, and affordable housing, have gained higher visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Watch: The Top Real Estate Markets of 2023, Revealed<\/strong><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Sweet home Indiana<\/h2>\n

Cash-strapped buyers also flocked to the mighty Midwest, with Indiana capturing the most spots\u2014a total of three\u2014on the Hottest Markets list.<\/p>\n

Bargain-hunting home shoppers were drawn to Fort Wayne<\/a> (No. 5), Lafayette<\/a> (No. 17), and Elkhart<\/a> (No. 18), which all had homes priced at $302,000 or less. That\u2019s more than $100,000 below the national average.<\/p>\n

And as rising inflation gnaws away at household budgets, home shoppers wasted no time when they found an affordable home. Homes in the hottest markets were snapped up 25 days faster than the average property.<\/p>\n

\u201cSellers are coming to the realization that the market has shifted, and those that price their home correctly will benefit the most from a faster sale, smaller carrying costs, and more money,\u201d says Ben Jones<\/strong>, founding agent of Compass Indiana and leader of The Jones Team.<\/p>\n

How mortgage rates affected America\u2019s hottest markets<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s little wonder home shoppers are forgoing pricey properties for budget-friendly alternatives, even if buyers do have to shovel a driveway now and then: They\u2019re seeking relief from not only high home prices, but also skyrocketing mortgage rates, which have risen from the low 3% range at the start of the year to about 6.3% as of last week, according to Freddie Mac. (This is for 30-year fixed-rate loans.)<\/p>\n

\u201cA mortgage payment for a median-priced home is about 65% to 70% higher than last year,\u201d explains Ratiu. That means the typical homebuyer is paying nearly $1,000 more a month for the same home.<\/p>\n

Yet, though buyers have to pay more in monthly mortgage costs, they finally have bargaining power. Homes are lingering on the market, driving up the total number of properties for sale. And more homes mean that sellers have to slash prices in order to compete.<\/p>\n

So as we hurtle toward the end of the year, future buyers should take note that homes are seeing price reductions at levels not seen since 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs markets are moving toward more balance, buyers will find more choices and less competition,\u201d says Ratiu.<\/p>\n

The post America Is Divided\u2014by Home Prices: Here\u2019s Where the Affordable Homes Are Hiding<\/a> appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo-Illustration by Realtor.com; Photos: Getty Images (2) When it comes to demand for real estate, certain areas of the U.S. are hot\u2014and others definitely are not. And the most in-demand spots right now aren\u2019t those balmy climates you might presume people pine for this time of year. For the sixth month in a row, warm,…Read More→<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1454,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/billingsrealtybrokers.paradiseinnovations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}